Bidspirit auction | Shadarut Letter (Letter for an

Shadarut Letter (Letter for an Emissary of the Rabbis) by the Heads of the Ashkenazic Perushim Community of Safed and Jerusalem - Signed by Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, the Disciple of the Vilna Gaon, and by Additional Disciples of the Vilna Gaon– Jerusalem and Safed, 1831 - Letter of Shadarut for Kollelot Adat Ha'Perushim of Safed and Jerusalem, which was founded by the greatest disciples of the Vilna Gaon, signed by the most prominent rabbis, disciples of the Vilna Gaon, heads of the Ashkenazic community of the Land of Israel. Jerusalem-Safed, 1831. As is well known, the Vilna Gaon tried to immigrate to the Land of Israel; however, went back in the middle of his journey. The most prominent rabbis explained that the Vilna Gaon ”was a spark of Moses and therefore was not given Divine permission”. Therefore, he encouraged his disciples to immigrate to the Land of Israel, like the Jewish people who entered the land of Israel under the leadership of Joshua. Indeed, several years after the Gaon's death, his disciples started to immigrate to the Land of Israel in order to build it, make the wilderness bloom and prepare the land for the return to Zion. These disciples were headed by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. Two additional disciples, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, immigrated alone. In the letter before us, which was written by the disciples of the Vilna Gaon, they explain the importance of the financial support of the settlers of the land of Israel: ”This Mitzvah is threefold. It includes Talmud Torah of the many, saving a life and the settlement of the Holy Land, each of them equal to the complete Torah”. The immigration of the disciples of the Vilna Gaon to the Land of Israel and their settlement in Jerusalem is perceived today as an historical revolution and as the basis of the complete enterprise of the settling the country. This is because the conception underlying their immigration was of natural redemption, a gathering of the Jewish exiles (Kibbutz Galuyot) and the building of the country by building houses, planting trees and expanding the Yishuv of Jerusalem. It should be noted that by settling in Jerusalem, the disciples of the Vilna Gaon together with the existing Jewish citizens formed, for the first time, a Jewish majority in the town, with all its implications. The Immigration of the Disciples of the Vilna Gaon The first group of disciples, headed by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, arrived in Safed in 1808. A second group headed by Rabbi Se'adya ben Rabbi Natan Neta of Vilnius and Rabbi Natan Neta, the son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, arrived in 1809. At the end of that year, a third group headed by Rabbi Chaim ben Rabbi Tuviya Katz and Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov arrived in Safed. At the beginning of 1816, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov moved with several other families to Jerusalem and was replaced as leader of the Perushim community by his friend, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov. The institutions and organization of the Perushim communities of Safed and Jerusalem were called ”Kollelot” and to support them, the communities had to send emissaries (Shadarim - Shluchei De'Rabbanan - emissaries of the rabbis) abroad to raise funds for their communities. The Shadarim were givens letters of recommendation, like the one before us. The letter The letter was sent on ”the 13th of Kislev 5591 [29.11.1830], here in the holy cities of Jerusalem and Safed” and it deals with the mission of ”the Shadar, the great rabbi … Zvi Hirsch of our Holy City”. The letter was written by a scribe (the handwriting is similar to that of Rabbi Aryeh Ne'eman, one of the signatories of the letter), who wrote several of such letters for several Shadarim. It should be noted that there are slight differences of versions and signatures between these letters At the margins of the letter, the handwritten, original signature of the disciples of the Vilna Gaon, the founders of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel ”the heads of the YEshivot of the two holy communities of Jerusalem and Safed”. The most well-known of these is Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov. The letter begins with praise for the rich man to whom it was sent, with a blank place to fill in his name. it seems that the letter was first sent to the potential donor, before the arrival of the Shadar. When the Shadar arrived, he would sit with the rich man and describe in detail the situation of the Kollelot and the settlers in order to raise funds for their support. The rabbis describe the Yishuv, ”which was founded by the disciples of Tana Dvei Eliyahu, our genius rabbi … Rabbi Eliyahu Ha'Hassid … in both communities” (Jerusalem and Safed). Among others, the rabbis write about the greatness of the Mitzvah, which is threefold. That is, the rich man's donation will observe three Mitzvot simultaneously: Talmud Torah of the many, saving a life and the settlement of the Holy Land.